


Halfway t(hair)

by Simbanrat



Category: EastEnders (TV)
Genre: Boys In Love, Cute, Hiding, M/M, One Shot, Random & Short, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:21:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26646688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Simbanrat/pseuds/Simbanrat
Summary: The change of Callum's hairstyle signified the change in his attitude and confidence.
Relationships: Callum "Halfway" Highway/Ben Mitchell
Kudos: 50





	Halfway t(hair)

**Author's Note:**

> Was talking about how nice and soft Callum's hair was last night with someone and I mentioned doing a fic. It's not exactly as I was planning it but it's definitely a story about Callum's hair.
> 
> Any kudos or comments is appreciated, especially on fics which don't turn out how I was hoping. 
> 
> Namechecking Marie as I might not have written this otherwise 😂.

Ben loved Callum’s hair first thing in the morning. Soft and floppy, it hung down over his forehead and in his eyes, making him look adorable as he blinked awake. 

When he first arrived in Walford Callum had a very ill-judged haircut. He didn’t want to admit it but it was a bowl cut, basically something he was able to do himself if he so required. The lads in the army took the piss slightly but he’d rather they teased him over his hair than some of the other things that could have possibly made him a target. Everyone was teased over something in that environment and his hair was better than his sexuality which he was so desperately denying. 

He guessed that’s why he wore the hat back then. Not only did it hide his haircut but it was also a uniform, to disguise who he really was. A dopey hat and bright clothes was a good way to hide in plain sight, nobody could see the real Callum behind his ‘Halfway’ persona. Outwardly he was happy go lucky and a bit dim, playing the fool and being a generally all round nice guy. Well apart from the whole shooting Mick thing, but that was a mistake. Inside he was entirely different, his heart and soul tearing up and twisting at not being himself. 

It was rare anyone would see him without his beanie hat on during his first few months in Walford, it was his armour. His fringe came down and poked out from underneath it, slicked down with lots of gel to keep it in place as the cut made it want to naturally bounce up and stand out. 

He was shocked as hell that someone like Whitney would be interested in him. He’d been hiding for so long he didn’t think anyone would ever see him, much less want to be with him. She was beautiful and outgoing, exactly the type of girl anyone would dream of dating, the type of girl he should want to date, so he did. He wanted to love her, to be in love with her but it was impossible really. 

Once they got together she helped to encourage him to be more himself, he could never be fully honest of course but she gave him the confidence to ditch the hat and have a change of style. She’s the one who suggested he went to the barbers for a haircut, she said she loved him how he was but maybe he’d fancy a change. 

When he got there he looked in the mirror, his hat was sitting on his head and when the barber removed it his hair barely moved, the gel more or less sticking it in place like it always did. When the guy put his hands in his hair he pulled a slight face at how crusty it felt, and he asked Callum how he wanted it. Callum looked in the mirror and shrugged, he didn’t know what looked good and he stared at his reflection, his blue eyes looking back at him and he started to feel naked and exposed. His armour was being stripped away and he was beginning to see his real self seeping out. 

The barber put his hand on Callum’s shoulder and reassured him he would give him something he thought would suit him and he nodded gratefully at him as the guy started to comb out his hair. He had to wash it first to get the crusty gunk out and when he was situated back in the chair the man started to cut away. Each snip of the scissors cutting away more and more of ‘Halfway’, the persona falling to the ground to be swept up and thrown away in the bin along with the rest of the rubbish. 

When it was finished Callum looked at himself in the mirror, his eyes had a slight glaze on and they were shining, impressed by what he was seeing and grateful that the guy cutting it had done such a good job. “You just need a tiny amount of mousse to keep it in place” he said as he swept a little bit over Callum’s hair, coiffing it perfectly in place, “no more tubs of gel”. Callum nodded at him and promised no more gel. 

When he got home Whitney was impressed, she loved it and said that he looked like a new man, the Carters were impressed too as were all the punters at the Vic. Later that night as he was getting ready for bed, he looked in the mirror again, his hair was looking good but he was scared. Would people be able to see the real him now? Was he still going to be able to hide in plain sight? Can Whitney see all his secrets… he needn’t have worried, Whitney was so in love with him that she didn’t notice anything, just that her boyfriend looked hot now. 

No, the problem was when he met a certain Ben Mitchell. He met the man with no disguise or armour, he was fully exposed and as soon as they shook hands in the Vic it felt like the other man had a big bright spotlight aimed straight at him, X-ray goggles to see straight into his soul. Callum nearly ran upstairs to his room to try and dig one of his hats out of the back of the wardrobe but he didn’t and it was a big mistake. 

It didn’t take long for Ben to see him, to see who he really was. He tried to deny it but he could only do it for so long since he had nothing to hide behind anymore. ‘Halfway’ was getting further and further away from him and now he was simply having to be Callum. Ben pushed and teased him, but he never threatened him, in fact the other man exposed his own soul right back at him. Admitting his heartbreak and loss, drunk at the flat warming party, laying in the spare room and hugging a pillow, his own attempt at trying to hide and protect himself. But he promised Callum he would never out him and he never did. 

When Callum finally gave into what he was so desperate to do it was incredible, Ben’s touch on his face was like fire and it spread through his entire body. Ben’s mouth on his made it tingle, his tongue sparking electricity where it touched his. Ben’s hands were in Callum’s hair, stroking the back and twisting a finger in it, it felt so intimate that Callum nearly lost it there and then. 

The next morning he laid in bed with Whit, regretting what he did, but not really. It was what he’d wanted to do for so long and it felt so right, but this wasn’t him. He wasn’t a cheater, he wasn’t someone who could hurt someone else. His hair was fluffy and soft, he’d got in the shower when he got home the night before, needing to wash the smell and… well other stuff of Ben off his body and he went to bed with wet hair. It was a bit messy and it took longer than normal to style it that day. As he looked at it in the mirror while he worked more mousse into it he hated what he saw looking back. 

He denied what happened and avoided Ben, stupidly proposing to Whit and realising that he’d replaced the bowl cut and beanie with a woman. Now he was hiding behind her and using her as a shield. He should have stopped it, admitted who he really was but he was in too deep, had hidden for so long he just couldn’t… until the day before the wedding when he had to tell her. They nearly still wed but she halted it, and she nearly exposed him to everyone when she walked in on him and Ben having a heart to heart on their bed. 

In the end though he exposed himself, firstly with the way he cradled a weak and injured Ben in his arms when he was shot. People questioned why he was so handsy, so gentle and caring, not many men would act like that, whispering softly to him or stroking his hair and face. But Callum didn’t care at that moment, more concerned with his heart breaking at the thought of losing Ben, the only person that had ever seen through his disguise and seen the real him, the man who let Callum see the real him too. 

Then he straight out outed himself in the Vic in front of his dad. Ben by his side and giving him the confidence to finally be honest. To say out loud that he was gay. His dad wasn’t impressed of course, but outside afterwards when he kissed Ben and felt his hands in his hair it was worth it. He didn’t want his dad in his life anyway, he’d spent his whole life hiding who he was to that man and he wasn’t willing to hide anymore. 

So now Callum was out and proud, he and Ben were together and in love even if Ben had been unwilling to say it out loud so far, his own insecurities holding him back. Callum had no such issue, being able to tell Ben repeatedly that he was in love with him, not hiding and not afraid anymore. Everything he did in the past to pretend what he was or wasn’t had gone and he was fully himself for the first time in his life. 

The first time Ben said out loud that he loved Callum was amazing, the older man felt the warmth spread through his body with the words and afterwards when they had made love and were laying looking at each other in bed, life felt completely right. Ben reached out and stroked down Callum’s face, his fingers caught in Callum’s hair and he tucked a stray strand behind his ear for him where it had fallen out of place during their love making. 

Nowadays the only time Callum’s hair was a mess was in the bedroom. Sometimes the sweat plastered it to his forehead from where his boyfriend was pressing gently into his body, bringing him to mind blowing climaxes over and over as he continually hit that spot inside him. Other times it was the way Ben’s hands were gripping tightly into his hair as Callum swallowed him deep in his throat, Ben thrusting into his boyfriend’s willing mouth. Occasionally it was his lover holding his head close to his neck, breathing into his hair as he was thrusting in and out of his body, Ben’s legs spread and Callum moving inside him. 

When Callum woke up in the mornings and felt his hair resting on his eyelashes, he blinked a few times to clear it away but he usually ended up moving it with his fingers instead. He saw Ben laying next to him, sometimes awake and sometimes asleep, but always there. When Ben was awake too he would lean forwards and stroke his fingers through Callum’s hair and kiss him good morning, pulling back and laying back down and encouraging Callum to lay with him. The older man moved into position, curling into Ben’s side with his boyfriend’s arm wrapped around him, and he let Ben play with his hair while they dropped off back to sleep for a little while longer. 


End file.
